Chevrolet Bolt News

As the first two so-called affordable long-range electric vehicles, it’s logical to think that the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Model 3 are battling for the same customers. But there are key distinctions that belie the notion of the two cars being in a sales race. For starters—as Forbes made clear this week—the Model 3 is a “sporty, somewhat pricey sedan,” while the Bolt is a “more practical crossover-like hatchback.”

CNN last week declared that 2018 will be “the year of the electric car.” This proclamation happens nearly every year—despite the fact that electric cars remain about 1 percent of the new-car market. CNN rightly states, “Americans (in 2018) will finally be able to buy reasonably affordable and widely available electric cars that can hold enough power to breeze through their daily routines with no worries.” Perhaps the news organization is pointing to the new breed of longer-range EVs. But other signs indicate that we are more likely to see steady growth rather than a quantum leap in EV adoption.

General Motors yesterday confirmed to PluginCars.com that approximately 100 Chevrolet Bolt electric cars were equipped with faulty battery cells that left drivers stranded after experiencing a complete loss of propulsion while driving. In some cases, the loss of propulsion was nearly instantaneous—with the car quickly stopping and the driver not being able to drive forward or reverse out of harm’s way. Other drivers had up to about five minutes to maneuver to safety.

General Motors today began notifying a couple of hundred owners of the Chevrolet Bolt all-electric car about a battery problem that could leave them stranded. In an exclusive interview with PluginCars.com, Kevin Kelly, ‎senior manager for advanced technology communications at General Motors, said that the problem might affect less than one percent of early Bolt production models. The company is proactively reaching out to “fewer than a couple hundred customers” that could be impacted, according to Kelly. The remedy is to replace the entire battery pack, even if only one cell is faulty.

The all-electric version of the 2017 Honda Clarity started arriving in dealerships in the past few weeks. The full-size sedan, which is only available in California and Oregon, leases for $269 a month for 36 months with $1,999 due at signing. The all-electric Clarity can travel 89 miles on a single charge. That puts Honda in the unfortunate position of introducing an EV with a driving range significantly lower than the new generation of electric cars.

General Motors announced this week that it will accelerate its plans to sell the 238-mile Chevy Bolt electric car throughout the United States. All authorized dealerships nationwide can now order the Bolt for deliveries in August rather than September, as previously planned.

Starting on April 1, GM began offering a national lease on the entry-level LT trim of the Chevy Bolt EV—starting at $329 for 36 months with $3,809 due at signing. While the Bolt lease deal is attractive, there are other EVs offered with even more enticing lease prices. Meanwhile, the wait continues on the Tesla Model 3, which might prove to be significantly more expensive than the Bolt.

For all the advances in electric car technology, sales of plug-in cars still represent only about one percent of the new car market. For years, common wisdom suggested that high purchase prices and low driving range were holding back EV sales. But the Chevy Bolt—with 238 miles of range and a post-incentive price around $30,000—was supposed to change all that when it went on sale last December. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case.

General Motors has sold about 2,000 of its small 238-mile all-electric car. While it’s still early for consistent reports from owners about issues such as real-world range, the first drivers (and media outlets that have given the Bolt a spin) reveal how an affordable long-range EV changes everything about the technology.

Chevrolet delivered its first three Bolt EVs to customers today. That makes it the first of an expected future wave of relatively affordable all-electric cars that provide more than 200 miles of driving range on a single charge.